Walden Pond

The Gulf Oil Spill of 2010 is often called the worst oil spill in US history. On April twentieth 2010 BP oil rig exploded killing eleven people and causing a leakage of about 3.19 million barrels to pour into the gulf. The twenty-two mile long plume not only rested on the surface of the water, but also adhered together and fell to the ocean floor. This largely and negatively affected marine life. The number of average number of dolphin deaths per year went from sixty-three to one hundred and…

An idea sprouts within a society much like a rock resonates in a pond: there in an instant, gone in the next, but powerful enough to ripple throughout. These ripples within global society maintain a grasp upon future ideals despite their level of popularity diminishing. For example, Transcendentalism, a philosophical movement of the nineteenth century, erected itself in early American history as a reaction to the state of intellectualism and spirituality as well as a proponent of the belief in…

Living Without Superficial Needs and Fear Reading Where I Lived and What I Lived For, there are multiple noticeable themes throughout the story. The first theme found was, “to live deliberately, man must live without superficial needs.” (Thoreau 1) Another theme found in the story was, to live sturdily, man must take his time and think, to live without fear. This report will cover the changes throughout the story between the two themes. The first paragraph of Where I Lived and What I Lived For…

environmental steward role models for people in the following generations. The thoughtfulness, passion, and original ideas in the written works of people like H. H. Bennett and John Muir are still famous inspirational messages. In the wooded area of Walden Pond State Park, for example, Thoreau’s quote, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life. And see if I could not learn what it had to teach and not, when I came to die, discover that…

Beloved and Pearl, the two spirit-like characters of Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, share one important theme for the main characters of Sethe and Hester. They are both people that are a consequence of an unfortunate event, that of adultery and premature death, that serve as a sign of a priority that Hester and sethe must take care of. For Beloved, Sethe's priority is to begin to stop denying the past and facing it and for Hester, Pearl serves as reminder…

Above Everyone Else Dazzling lights, tapping shoes, and extravagant dances illustrate the roaring twenties at a glance. When looking deeper into this era, Fitzgerald reveals the hollowness of the upperclass. Rather than being themselves, the characters choose to base their lives on society’s opinion. In The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the characters choose to ignore the transcendentalist aspects of life. Halfway between New York City, West and East Egg lies a rundown area…

What Makes a Refuser a Figure of Refusal? Not every person that participates in a refusal is a figure of refusal. To fit the label of a figure of refusal, a person's refusal must claim legitimacy. In her essay "Civil Disobedience," Hannah Arendt explores the concept of the need of a refusal. While she does not specifically mention the legitimacy of a refusal, her arguments provide support for the idea that the need of a refusal adds to its legitimacy. Arendt says that "Civil disobedience…

Being an editor for my publication Unnamed Trademarked Patent Pending has its up and its downs but writing an anthology for Gwendolyn Brookes, Sherman Alexie, Lucille Clifton, Sylvia Plath and Gary Soto was eye opening. These are some of the best poets that I have had the opportunity to read and appreciate in my lifetime. The diversity among the bunch was very fulfilling, from poetry about racial tension, native American culture, women empowerment, depression to young love. Initially the poems…

In the introduction to his book Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience, geographer Yi-Fu Tuan defines his concepts of space and place, writing that “undifferentiated space becomes place as we get to know it better and endow it with value” (Tuan p.6). By using this language Tuan creates a dichotomy between the unknown and intimate with a clear preference for the latter. Earlier in the chapter, he writes that “place is security, space is freedom” (p.3) and in his chapter on the homeland,…

Another topic in Emerson’s transcendental essays was his idea about self-reliance. He believed that if you went out into nature, you would find your true purpose. You would find your connection, your purpose, and think for yourself. There would be no wrong from your mouth, and your actions would hold truth. This is similar in Love Medicine. In the novel, there are two sons of Rushes Bear: Eli and Nector. The American government in this time period made it to where Native American children were…